Toyota Leads U.S. Sales Drop on ‘Clunkers’ Comparison

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, sold 34 percent fewer vehicles in the U.S. than in August 2009, while Honda’s volume plunged 33 percent. Sales for Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. fell 27 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor
Co., beneficiaries last year of U.S. “cash for clunkers”
incentives, had the steepest August sales declines among large
carmakers because of the program’s end and a slowing economy.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, sold 34 percent
fewer vehicles in the U.S. than in August 2009, while Honda’s
volume plunged 33 percent. Sales for Nissan Motor Co. and
Hyundai Motor Co. fell 27 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

While Toyota sales were expected to fall considering the
boost it got last year from rebates for trade-ins, “this
month’s results are even worse than expected,” said Michelle
Krebs, a senior analyst at Santa Monica, California-based
Edmunds.com. “Toyota still is suffering a hangover from its
numerous recalls this year.”

U.S. auto sales last month were the slowest for August in
28 years as model-year closeout deals failed to lure people
concerned about the economy and their jobs. Consumers avoided
showrooms as fear of a double-dip recession grows following the
27 percent slide in existing home sales in July, said Jesse
Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com.

Industrywide Drop

Industrywide sales totaled 997,468, down from 1.26 million
a year earlier, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based
Autodata Corp. Asia-based brands captured 46.9 percent of sales,
down from 52.3 percent a year earlier, while GM, Ford and
Chrysler raised their market share 3.6 percentage points to 44.3
percent, according to Autodata.

Toyota sold 148,388 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles last
month, down from 225,088 a year earlier. Corolla small cars,
Camry sedans and Prius hybrids, fuel-efficient models that
benefited from last year’s federal rebates, led declines for the
Toyota City, Japan-based company last month, falling 53 percent,
43 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

“Year-over-year comparisons aren’t relevant to a year ago,
owing to ‘Cash for clunkers,’” Bob Carter, Toyota’s group vice
president for U.S. sales, said in a conference call yesterday.
Given current economic conditions, “we’re characterizing August
as a fair month for Toyota,” he said.

‘Return to Normal’

The company, which recalled a record number of vehicles
this year, is seeing a “return to normal” based on vehicle
trade-ins, Carter said. As of July, about 57 percent of cars and
trucks traded in at U.S. dealerships for new Toyota models were
from competing brands, returning to the level prior to the
recalls, he said.

Toyota will continue through September a sales promotion
offering two years of free maintenance, Carter said. The program
that began earlier this year was to expire at the end of August.

The company’s shares fell 0.3 percent to close at 2,850 yen
in Tokyo trading. The stock declined 26 percent in the first
eight months of the year to the lowest since March 2009.

Toyota’s U.S. market share dropped to 14.9 percent last
month from 17.8 percent a year earlier, according to Autodata.

Honda said it sold 108,729 Honda and Acura models, down
from 161,439 a year earlier. Declines for the Tokyo-based
company were led by its Accord, Civic and Fit cars, down 43
percent, 47 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

Honda, Nissan

Market share for Honda, fourth in U.S. sales behind GM,
Ford and Toyota, declined 1.9 percentage points to 10.9 percent,
according to Autodata.

Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, sold 76,827 Nissan
and Infiniti models, a drop from 105,312 a year ago. The
Yokohama, Japan-based company’s Versa and Sentra small cars, its
main beneficiaries of cash-for-clunkers discounts in 2009, had
respective declines of 60 percent and 50 percent last month,
Nissan said.

Even with grimmer economic news in August, Nissan dealers
reported a jump in store visits late in the month and financing
options have improved, Al Castignetti, Nissan’s vice president
of U.S. sales, said in an interview.

“One of the bright spots out there was the easing of
credit,” Castignetti said. “It’s loosening up a little, which
makes things easier.”

Nissan’s market share was 7.7 percent last month, compared
with 8.3 percent a year earlier, according to Autodata.

Hyundai Motor

Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, said its
deliveries fell to 53,603 last month from 60,467 a year earlier.

As Hyundai’s sales decline trailed that of the industry,
the Seoul-based company’s market share rose to 5.4 percent from
4.8 percent, according to Autodata.

“Even with an erratic stock market, sluggish home sales
and faltering consumer confidence over the past several months,
Hyundai continues to significantly outperform the industry and
gain market share,” Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai’s vice president of
U.S. sales, said in a statement.

Some automakers report sales figures adjusting for the
number of selling days in a month. In August 2010 there were 25
selling days, compared with 26 in August 2009. On that basis,
Toyota’s sales dropped 31 percent, Honda’s fell 30 percent,
Nissan’s declined 24 percent and Hyundai had a 7.8 percent dip.